Roasted Pumpkin with Yogurt Sauce and Pine Nuts

Here’s a really effortless, great way to dress up roasted pumpkin to make a side dish that works just as well alongside grand roasts or a salad spread for lunch. Simply toss pumpkin with garlic then oven roast until golden, drizzle with yogurt lemon sauce and scatter with pine nuts. So easy yet so superb! The really good thing about this dish is its sheer simplicity, that it’s something a little different but the flavor has universal appeal. I mean, roasted pumpkin is already a good thing. But you’ll love it even more with a creamy garlicky-lemony yogurt sauce casually drizzled over it. Add pine nuts for texture a dash of of the exotic – and boom! People are always impressed. And then you can trot out that line we cooks love to casually say to guests, “Oh, it’s just a little something I threw together quickly……”

It’s still neutrally flavored enough to go well with virtually any dish! Roast chicken, lamb, baked Parmesan salmon or slow cooker beef brisket would make a perfect pairing!

Ingredients:

ROASTED PUMPKIN

• 1.2kg / 2.4 lb pumpkin , skin on seeds in weight (or butternut squash or sweet potato)
• 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
• 1 garlic clove , finely minced using garlic press
• 1/2 tsp each salt and pepper

LEMON YOGURT SAUCE

• 3/4 cup Greek yogurt (or other plain, non-sweet yogurt)
• 1/2 small garlic clove , finely minced using garlic press
• 1 tbsp lemon juice
• 1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
• 1/4 tsp each salt and pepper

SPRINKLING AND GARNISHES

• 2 tbsp pine nuts (or other nuts of choice)
• 2 tbsp fresh coriander/cilantro leaves , roughly chopped (or parsley)
• 1/8 tsp sumac